Search for Australia’s $55 million Lotto winner

A nationwide hunt is on to find the winner of a $55 million Lotto ticket which remains unclaimed.

The unregistered ticket from Victoria was purchased from Scole Lotto & News in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick for a Powerball draw held in January this year.

While Lotterywest has confirmed there are currently no outstanding Division One Lotto prizes in Western Australia, the $55 million winner has just one more month to claim their prize directly from Victoria’s official lottery provider Tatts. After this time the prize goes to the Victorian State Revenue Office where the winner can claim their prize indefinitely.

“We do find our winners are quite prompt in claiming their prizes and a long wait for a winner is uncommon,” said Lotterywest spokesperson Pina Compagnone.

“In WA players have 12 months from the date of the draw to claim their prize, and this timeframe has proved adequate with a pretty successful rate in claimed winnings.

“We’re happy to report that over the last year WA produced 68 Division One winners who shared in almost $130 million worth of prizes, and that all these prizes have officially been claimed.

“A good way to ensure your prize is not at risk of going unclaimed is to join as a Lotterywest member, so your tickets are linked to your account and payments are secure.”

While Lotterywest was determined to help deliver all lottery prizes to their rightful owners, in WA it was a win, win.

“We’re unique in Australia in that all unclaimed winnings are returned to the WA community via our direct grants which support not-for-profit groups,” Ms Compagnone said.

Local players have a chance to win big in next weekend’s $20 million Saturday Lotto Superdraw.

Tickets are available from Lotterywest in-store, online or through the app.

Almost all money spent on Lotterywest games is returned to the WA community through prize payouts and grants. Last financial year this totalled $440 million shared amongst local winners and over $265 million given in grants.

To find out more on the Lotterywest membership visit www.lotterywest.wa.gov.au/membership